Top of the House

By Patrick Jourdain (Wales)

Although some believe Four Spades is a candidate, Three Notrumps has my vote as the most popular contract. It must be for Sweden, as on this deal from their Round 5 match against Austria, they tried it at both tables.

Their judgment was not far out, as one side has nine top winners, and the other eight. The snag is that the Laws give the defence the right to make the first lead:

Open Round 5. Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª 2 © Q 10 6 5 4 3 2 ¨ 5 2 § A 9 7
ª 8 5 4 © A 9 7 ¨ K Q 9 8 3 § 6 3		ª 9 © K J 8 ¨ A 7 6 4 § K Q J 10 4
	ª A K Q J 10 7 6 3 © - ¨ J 10 § 8 5 2

West	North	East	South
Schifko	Andersson	Gloyer	Gullberg
	3ª	Pass	3ª
Pass	3NT	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Nystrom	Simon	Bertheau	Terraneo
	3ª	3NT	Dble
All Pass

At both tables North opened Three Hearts. When Sweden sat North-South, Andreas Gloyer, East for Austria, went quietly. Tommy Gullberg bid his spades, and Lars Andersson, having a singleton in his partner's suit, bid an almost-compulsory Three Notrumps. Gullberg took something of a gamble in Passing, but was rewarded when it turned out that East had been dealt a natural club lead.

Andersson quickly claimed one club and eight spades for his game. The Swedes noted that Four Spades also had only nine tricks, so felt quite satisfied with +400.
At the other table, East, in common with some others, overcalled North's pre-empt with a risky Three Notrumps. This gave South a familiar choice. Do you go for the jugular with a double, or avoid the risk of driving them elsewhere?

Tino Terraneo, another member of the well-known family, clearly belonged to the bolder group. He doubled, and when that ended the auction, led the appropriate card from his spade holding. North later signalled for a club, and the Austrians took the same nine tricks that the Swedish North-South had made at the first table. On this occasion, however, the tricks were worth 1100, and 12 IMPS to Austria. This was enough to swing the match to Austria 47-43 or 16-14 in VPs.

The Beauty of Bridge

Radoslaw Kielbasinski

The match with Norway in Round 6 was not successful for the Polish team. Although the following deal did not influence the final result it showed the real beauty of our sport.

Board 6. Dealer East. E/W Vul.
	ª K 8 3 © 10 5 ¨ 4 3 § K Q 9 7 6 3
ª A Q 4 © K J 6 ¨ 10 8 5 2 § A J 10		ª 9 7 6 2 © Q 9 3 ¨ K J 7 § 8 5 2
	ª J 10 5 © A 8 7 4 2 ¨ A Q 9 6 § 4

West	North	East	South
Brogeland	Lesniewski	Aa	Martens
		Pass	1©
1NT	2§	All Pass

East led the six of spades, covered in turn by the jack, queen and king. Declarer played a diamond to the queen, a club to the queen and exited with a club. West won with the jack and played back a diamond. Declarer took the ace, ruffed a diamond and played a third club. West won and played the master diamond, forcing declarer to ruff. These cards remained:

	ª 8 3 © 10 5 ¨ - § K
ª A 4 © K J 6 ¨ - § -		ª 9 7 © Q 9 3 ¨ - § -
	ª 10 5 © A 8 7 ¨ - § -

When Lesniewski played the king of clubs East could not discard a spade as then North would play a low spade to the ten, setting up the eight as a ninth trick.
So East discarded the three of hearts.
After the seven of hearts had gone from dummy it was West's turn to feel the pressure. Parting with his small spade would allow declarer to duck a spade and set up the ten, so he had to release the six of hearts. Now Marcin played a heart to the ace and a heart. It did not matter who won this trick, as the defender on lead had to present declarer with an extra trick in spades, the ninth in all.

The hand was not important for the final score. Moreover, if Marcin plays low from dummy at trick one or West cashes the ace of clubs before exiting with a diamond nobody would pay any attention to this deal. This shows that Bridge is a never-ending story.

Good Irish Slam

By Seamus Dowling

In their sixth round match against Turkey, Tom Hanlon and Hugh McGann had a nice auction to reach the minor slam.

Session 6. Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Vul.
	ª A 9 3 © A K 10 5 4 ¨ 6 § A J 10 8
ª K Q 10 7 4 © J 8 3 ¨ K Q 7 4 § 2		ª J 5 2 © 6 ¨ A J 10 9 5 2 § 7 6 4
	ª 8 6 © Q 9 7 2 ¨ 8 3 § K Q 9 5 3

West	North	East	South
	Hanlon		McGann
1ª	2©	2ª	3§
Pass	3ª	Pass	4©
Pass	6§	All Pass

Three Clubs was forcing for one round. McGann, with the choice of slams, made the right decision. The spade loser goes on the fifth heart. Played in hearts you must lose a spade as well as the diamond.

Slovenia's Matija Senk and Gregor Kranjc also got there via the following sequence:

West	North	East	South
	Kranjc		Senk
1ª	2©	2ª	3§
Pass	4§	Pass	4©
Pass	4NT*	Pass	5§*
Pass	6§	All Pass

Three Clubs promised a heart fit, Four Clubs was forcing and Five Clubs showed one of six.

Walker's Biscuit

By Patrick Jourdain (Wales)

The Celtic matches are friendly affairs, but with honour at stake. In Round 4 Scotland had beaten Wales, and in Round 7, overcame Ireland 22-8 to take the lead of those countries that compete in the Camrose. (In the Camrose, both the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland have teams, but in EBL events the team is all-Ireland.)

This well-played deal by David Walker contributed to the Scottish win

Open Round 7 Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Vul.
	ª K 8 6 2 © A Q J 9 4 ¨ K 4 § J 7
ª A J 9 5 © 2 ¨ J 10 8 6 3 § A 9 5		ª 7 4 © 7 5 3 ¨ A 7 § Q 10 8 4 3 2
	ª Q 10 3 © K 10 8 6 ¨ Q 9 5 2 § K 6

West	North	East	South
O'Brien	Walker	MacDonagh	Murdoch
		Pass	Pass
1¨	1©	2§	2¨
Pass	4©	All Pass

West	North	East	South
Whittaker	Hanlon	Steel	McGann
		Pass	1§
1ª	Dble	Pass	1NT
Pass	2©	Pass	3©
Pass	4©	All Pass

Hanlon and McGann use a One Club opening that shows a balanced hand of 9-12 points or a Strong Club. It did not affect the outcome here, as both tables reached Four Hearts by North, Scotland after South's Two Diamonds showed a good raise in hearts.

Hanlon had no real chance on a spade lead. He does best to put in the queen. West can win and exit passively, say with a trump. Declarer is in danger of losing two spades, a diamond and two clubs. The club suit is frozen, meaning neither defender can play it without conceding a trick, so declarer has the chance to set up a spade trick for a club discard to hold the contract to one off. Hanlon actually chose to play a low spade from dummy at trick one, and West put in the nine. East, on lead later with the ace of diamonds, pushed through another spade, to end all hope.

At Walker's table, East led ace of diamonds, giving declarer a favourable start. Seeing the danger that declarer ditches a losing club on the diamond queen, East switched at trick two to a club. Walker played low from dummy, and was pleased to see West's ace. The contract is still not home, for declarer has to avoid losing two spades, but Walker, recalling the spade overcall, could see the way.

He won West's diamond continuation, drew trumps in two rounds, cashed the diamond queen, throwing a spade from hand, ruffed a diamond to eliminate the suit, cashed his winning club, and then played the queen of spades. West had to win and was endplayed, having to concede either a ruff and discard, or lead away from the jack of spades.

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